Williams is far from the first to condemn the current rail set up. In 2017, a House of Commons Transport Committee report said privatised rail in its current form didn’t increase competition; 10 out of 16 franchises between 2012 and 2015 were directly awarded with no competition.

And it didn’t shift the risk to the private sector. In one case, the tax payer was left £38bn out of pocket when ticket sales fell. But the contract meant the Train Operating Company (TOC) got paid all the same. And that was a full year before timetable chaos brought swathes of the railways to a standstill this summer.

And of course, we have always been sceptical that rail franchises could deliver on their promises.

Williams might not be saying anything revolutionary. But the fact that a man appointed by Chris Grayling himself has reached these conclusions offers hope that the government might finally wake up to what rail workers, trade unions and passengers have known for years: rail privatisation hasn’t worked.